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Fed bashing: Is it time for a time out?

After three-plus years of attacks from politicians and portions of the media, it
may be time for a time out in the war against bloated, overpaid, underworked and
fireproof federal bureaucrats.

When I left town late last week, the long lines at the airport and the
TSA security were a pain. But when I came back to D.C. Tuesday — after the
Boston Marathon bombing — I was delighted by airport security. Didn't
object to the pat-down. All the TSA folks were polite, but you could tell they
were on their toes. Good.

I couldn't spot the sky marshal (or marshals) on the flight into DCA (Reagan National) but I sure hoped they were there on board.

Here at home, we have a stepped-up police presence. And those are just
the ones we can see. Being in D.C. means living inside the Beltway bullseye. Has
for a long time.

The ricin-laced letters sent to the White House and certain members of
Congress were — as they have been for years — opened at remote centers a long way from downtown D.C. In the past, some of them got through, killing some postal workers. In situations like this, whether a poisoned letter or a package bomb, folks in unglamorous jobs — like postal clerk and letter carrier — are on the front line. Sometimes they are the canary in the coal mine.

We've been through this before. In D.C., Oklahoma City, New York and
now Boston. The fertilizer-plant explosion in Texas, (which killed and injured
more than the Boston attack), is being investigated — as of this writing
— as if it were a crime scene. If it was, it's a good bet that it and other crimes will be solved by feds — whether ATF, FBI, postal inspectors or CBP. Maybe with a little help from the DEA, NSA and CIA.

There were plenty of local, non-fed heroes after the Boston Marathon
attacks. There usually are. It's remarkable that ordinary, untrained people
— as during the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center — do
extraordinarily brave things.

But as often happens, when the going gets really tough, and it is a
surprise, life-or-death situation, more often than not most of us taxpayers head
for the hills. Often rightly so.

When there is a major disaster, man-made or natural, some people do
unnatural things: Because it is part of their job description. Think of the 9/11
attacks on New York City. Hundreds of police and firefighters, on or off duty,
rushed into the burning buildings. Some more than once. A lot of them never came
out.

Not, as they say, bad for government work!

Some things never change. Which can be horrible, and also pretty
wonderful, at times.

Maybe this is a good time to stop fed-bashing. At least until they finish
their work and things return to what is considered normal. Then let the griping begin.

Postal Service's 'broken business
model' under fire
Postmaster General Pat Donahoe told the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee Wednesday that the Postal Service is operating under a "broken business
model." But cost-saving efforts, such as ending Saturday delivery and modifying a
multibillion requirement to prefund future retiree health care cost, garnered
little agreement among lawmakers.

Feds charge 24 IRS workers with theft
Twenty-four current and former Internal Revenue Service employees have been
charged with stealing government benefits, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The
IRS employees were indicted on charges that they illegally received more than
$250,000 in benefits including unemployment insurance payments, food stamps,
welfare, and housing vouchers, the U.S. attorney's office in Memphis said in a
news release.
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